Botanical classification/cultivar designation: Saintpaulia ionantha cultivar Butterfly Blue.
The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Saintpaulia plant, botanically known as Saintpaulia ionantha, and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Butterfly Bluexe2x80x99.
The new Saintpaulia is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Honselersdijk, The Netherlands. The objective of the breeding program was to create new Saintpaulia cultivars with double flowers and attractive flower coloration.
The new Saintpaulia originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in July, 2000 in Honselersdijk, The Netherlands of a proprietary selection of Saintpaulia identified as code number E 55, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary selection of Saintpaulia identified as code number E 35, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Saintpaulia was discovered and selected by the Inventor within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Honselersdijk, The Netherlands.
Asexual reproduction of the new Saintpaulia by leaf cuttings taken since April, 2001 at Honselersdijk, The Netherlands, has shown that the unique features of this new Saintpaulia are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The cultivar Butterfly Blue has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature, daylength and light intensity, without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Butterfly Bluexe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Butterfly Bluexe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Compact plant habit.
2. Freely flowering habit.
3. Star-shaped double violet and light violet bi-colored flowers.
Plants of the new Saintpaulia differ from plants of the female parent selection in flower form, shape and coloration.
Plants of the new Saintpaulia differ from plants of the male parent selection in flower size and coloration.
Plants of the new Saintpaulia can be compared to plants of the cultivar Rococo, not patented. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Honselersdijk, The Netherlands, plants of the new Saintpaulia differed from plants of the cultivar Rococo in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Saintpaulia were larger than plants of the cultivar Rococo.
2. Flowers of plants of the new Saintpaulia were positioned above the foliage whereas flowers of plants of the cultivar Rococo were occasionally within the foliage.
3. Flower color of plants of the new Saintpaulia was bi-colored whereas flower color of plants of the cultivar Rococo was not bi-colored.